


The Siren, November 1977

by BobbyCrocker101



Category: Kojak (TV 1973)
Genre: 1970s, Detectives, Femme Fatale, Gen, Manhattan South, Mob Bosses, NYPD, New York City, Set Ups, homicides, murders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22756102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BobbyCrocker101/pseuds/BobbyCrocker101
Summary: Sirens: Dangerous creatures in Greek mythology that lured men to their deaths with their enchanting music and singing.Kojak's thoughts concerning the events that occurred in the Season 5 episode ‘Tears For All  Who Loved Her’ with a few bits changed and added.This is an original story set in November 1977.Feedback welcome





	The Siren, November 1977

**Author's Note:**

> None of the characters belong to me; I'm just playing with them for a while before putting them back in their box. No money is being, or will be made from this story.
> 
> I was 15 in September 1973 when "Kojak" first aired, and had other things to do. Now I'm retired I’ve finally watched this wonderful old TV show for the first time. I’m from the UK and have never visited the US, but have made use of the internet to gain information about the NYPD and the city of New York. I apologise in advance for any language confusion.
> 
> When I first read the summary for the Season 5 episode 'Tears For All Who Loved Her' it was billed as an episode in which Crocker gets all hot and bothered over a mobster's widow. However when I sat and watched the episode I didn't see it that way, but more a story of Crocker being set up by Kojak who was too much of a coward to face the woman himself. This is how my story is worked.
> 
> In the Season 2 episode “Nursemaid” (1974) Crocker’s ID shows him to have been born in 1943 which would make him 34 in 1977, but because he's occasionally referred to as being very young and is often called "Kid" or "Junior", my version of him was born in 1951 which makes him 26 in this story, and since little is known about his back story I've made up my own version.
> 
> Spoilers: Major spoilers for the Season 5 episode ‘Tears For All Who Loved Her’ (1977).
> 
> Enjoy!

I remained standing on the pier and watched as Saperstein and Stavros led a handcuffed Carol Austin and Fred Toomey away. I also watched as Crocker followed them. Spotting Frank coming toward me I watched as he patted Crocker on the arm for a job well done, and I watched as Crocker shrugged the hand off. I could almost see the waves of anger coming off him, and I had no one to blame but myself. Communication is a wonderful thing I mused, when it works.

“I’m pleased to see you let Crocker handle it.” Frank said in a friendly but sarcastic way. I continued to watch Carol Austin. I knew it would be the last time I’d ever see her.

“You know in a way I almost admire her.” I’d told him as she was finally driven away. “A little kid out of the sewer by her fingernails: absent father, and a lush for a mother...” It was obvious I still cared about her. He asked me why I’d walked away all those years ago. So I told him a story about a movie I once saw, about a man who had been so poor he had holes in his shoes, but later on he’d made it big and had become very rich and had dozens of pairs of shoes, but would still cut a man’s heart out for a pair of shoes. I looked across at Crocker as he waited by the car. Frank reminded me that HIS background was pretty much the same as Carol’s, but with one difference I said: unlike Carol Austin, Crocker had been found by some kind decent people who had taken both him and his younger sister out of the sewer and given them the chance of a new life. Carol had said she didn’t want to start anything between me and Crocker, but whether it was intended or not, that was exactly what she'd done, and for that I would never forgive her. 

****

The moment we received the call about a homicide at the home of Mr and Mrs Robbie Austin I knew there was going to be trouble. Mr Austin had been killed by a person or persons unknown who had apparently entered the house via a broken window. Mrs Austin, or Carol as I once knew her, had been upstairs in bed asleep, having taken a sedative earlier. She claimed she’d been woken by a noise and had made her way downstairs where she’d been attacked. I’d sent the team to check it out hoping they could manage without me because I really didn’t want to see her at this time. The last time we’d met I had barely escaped with my sanity intact, such was the power she had over me, and I had hoped I’d never meet her again, but fate had intervened. 

Stavros met me at the house and informed me that the neighbours had mostly been asleep at the time of the murder and Mrs Austin was upstairs with Crocker, so thank God, I wouldn’t have to see her. I made a lame excuse about heading home to bed, but Stavros, surprised by my attitude, told me that this was a ‘very heavy thing’ we had here. He was right of course, but he didn’t know about me and Carol Austin, none of the men did, and I intended to keep it that way, but his pressing had made me mad and I’d snapped at him, reminding him that he and the others are always complaining that I treat them like kids; that I’m always breathing down their necks, and that for once I was stepping back. I think he bought it. All I wanted was to get away before Carol became aware that I was in the house.

****

The following morning Crocker caught up with me as I walked into the squad room. He’d worked through the rest of the night as I knew he would and informed me that the murder weapon still hadn’t been found, that the emergency services were tearing up the neighbourhood looking for it, and Carol Austin was in the squad room looking at the mug shots files with the captain. Thankfully she had her back to me. I turned round and headed for the sandwich machine out on the landing. Crocker followed me and continued with his report. He mentioned something about a light switch, but I was too hot and bothered about Carol being in the next room that I wasn’t paying attention to what he was saying. I heard footsteps, looked up and found myself looking directly at Carol Austin as she headed for the stairs. It was the first time I’d seen her in years, but she was still as beautiful as I remembered, and no doubt still as cunning. 

Although neither of us spoke, it seemed the moment our eyes met a thousand words were spoken. I also noticed Crocker watching the silent exchange. One thing I can say about my detective is that he might not have drawers full of high school certificates, but he’s far from unintelligent. I sensed that when he looked first at me and then at Carol he’d figured ‘something’ out. After she had gone he asked me if he should stay on the case. I told him he should, but before he left I warned him that Robbie Austin had been a top echelon hood, close to the ‘old man’ and that once ‘Papa’ as he was known got wind of the homicide he’d want to be involved right up to his bony kneecaps and that Crocker should keep his back to the wall. A plan was already forming in my mind, but it would require me to say nothing to my team, especially Crocker.

I watched as my detective headed down the stairs. I remained standing by the sandwich machine, which had once again given me the wrong food; tuna fish instead of cheese and pimento. Moments later I was joined by the captain who was also seeking sustenance. I offered him my tuna sandwich, but he 'politely' declined. He informed me that Carol had been unable to identify anyone from the photographs we had. I wasn’t surprised. 

Of course it was inevitable that I would have to see her at some point, especially if I wanted my plan to succeed. She opened her door to me later that afternoon and as soon as the door was closed behind us she threw her arms round me. She told me she’d been afraid I wouldn’t come to see her and had decided she would have come and seen me in my office if I hadn’t arrived when I had. I told her I was sorry about her husband, but added that he’d got it easy. We went into the living room and she walked over to the bar and started mixing drinks. She asked what had happened between us. This was the moment I’d been dreading, yet it was all part of my plan. I just hoped she took the bait. I tried to make light of it and reminded her that our ‘relationship’ such as it was had consisted of a couple of dates and then we’d said good-bye. She reminded me that it ended because I’d walked away. She was right. I hadn’t wanted to, but I knew I NEEDED to, for the sake of my sanity. 

I guessed ‘Papa’ was probably having her watched and advised her to stay in the house and not go out because he might think her a bad wife for letting her husband get killed and he might send some muscle over to push her face in. It was then that I put my plan into action: I asked her if she had anything to hide; she assured me she hadn’t. I told her to call me if things got too heavy. She said she would be fine knowing I was around, and then I dropped the bombshell: that I wouldn’t be working on the case, that it would be better for both of us, and that Crocker would be handling things. She was not happy, and tried to tell me she’d changed, that people do because life changes them but I had serious doubts about that. I hadn’t wanted to involve Crocker, but other than me he really was the best man for the job, and after all he is MY detective, and since she’s considerably older than him I just hoped he would prove to be immune to her charms; that she would be the one woman in the city he WOULDN'T fall for. I also ordered twenty-four hour surveillance on her house.

The next part of my plan was to get word to ‘Papa’ that the police were on the case and I didn’t want his ‘soldiers’ getting in the way. I had just the person in mind for the job. It didn’t take Stavros, Saperstein and me long to pick up ‘Benny’; ‘Papa’s’ favourite bookie. I made sure he was told everything, including the name of the detective working on the case: ‘Detective Third Grade Robert Crocker; very sharp and very efficient’. Then I kicked ‘Benny’ free. Stavros and Saperstein asked if they should 'tail' him and were stunned when I told them to tail Crocker instead – 24 hours a day with a couple of men he didn’t know and that they weren’t to say anything to anyone.

The following morning I was back outside Carol’s watching and waiting; putting my plan into action by pretending to be checking up on Crocker. He was none too pleased to see me waiting outside the house and by the expression on his face had played right into my hands by thinking I was checking up on him. He told me he was on his way to speak to Fred Toomey, Robbie Austin’s bodyguard and chauffeur. The man had been conspicuous by his absence during the initial inquiry, but had turned up later with some story about buying a newspaper and chasing some guy who’d got away in a car. Trying to sound annoyed I asked Crocker what was going on with the street search for the missing gun. He reported that they’d covered Sutton to 1st, up to 61st, and down to 58th. Some people had heard a hi-fi, others hadn’t, a woman hanging out of a building had mentioned something about the lights being on at eleven, but Mrs Austin had insisted they were out by ten, and although Toomey's story had checked out, Crocker still wanted clarification on a couple of points. 

My detective is nothing if not thorough: his perspicacity was one of the reasons I’d selected him for the squad in the first place. I asked him if he’d learnt anything from inside the house, and he mentioned that Mrs Austin had cleaned the bar after her husband had been killed, but she was upset at having to talk about it. I bet she was. Crocker then asked me why I hadn’t told him I knew her. As I suspected he HAD picked up on something back at the precinct. I asked him if it would have made any difference. He said he didn’t know. I said that was why I hadn’t told him. Slowly I stuck the knife in and began to turn it. I told him that I felt he had enough to do checking Robbie Austin’s enemy list and that I would speak to Fred Toomey myself. As I knew he would Crocker got all defensive and reminded me that he was a fully grown up detective, that this was HIS case, and that I had given it to him, that next I would want to speak to Carol Austin and question his suspects! I sent him on his way like a little kid and told him I’d see him later and then headed off to the garage to speak to Toomey.

****

I found Fred Toomey in the garage wiping his hands. He laughed at my suggestion that he’d killed his boss; the man had paid him good money he said. I suggested that maybe someone had paid him MORE as it was well known that he hated his former boss and the way the man had always put him down. He told me to go and see ‘her’ as ‘she’ had been in the house at the time of the murder. I reminded him that the house had been in total darkness and ‘she’ couldn’t have seen a thing. Toomey had said maybe there had been a light, which was odd because Crocker had also said something about a light during the initial investigation and I’d still not asked him about that. I asked Toomey; was there a light or wasn’t there? I suspected that he knew more than he was letting on. I suggested to him that his boss was dead, that there was no gun so the man couldn’t have killed himself, no one could get in or out, so maybe HE’D done it, or SHE’D done it, or they’d BOTH done it. I even added some flourish by informing him that ‘The Shadow’ hadn’t done it. In the end I’d pointed out to Toomey that sometimes in cases like this it doesn’t matter who did it; just who gets to the DA first. I hoped he’d got my message.

****

Back at the precinct I was met by a very furtive Stavros who wanted to know if Crocker was about. I informed him that Crocker was ‘out’. It was then that my rotund friend informed me that he knew Robbie Austin’s lawyer and that the man owed him a favour. It transpired that Robbie Austin had left an estate worth more than three million dollars after taxes, and that Carol Austin was the sole beneficiary – there, he suggested, was a possible motive. The trouble was there was no way we were going to break her down: we needed to find the gun that killed Robbie; that was the key.

****

Later that evening I met Crocker walking through the precinct entrance hall: he was coming in and I was heading out. I asked him how the investigation was going. He replied that it was going slowly. I listened as he reported that Carol had been through a lot living with that ‘animal’ of a husband, and she still had his friends hanging around all over her. In Crocker’s opinion it was no wonder she was confused. I’d noticed he’d started calling her by her first name, a sure sign in my book that she’d begun weaving her magic on him. Twisting the knife a little more I took him to one side and trying to act like a concerned father asked him if he was getting ‘hung up’ on her; he assured me he wasn’t, that she was after all a suspect. The trouble is I WANTED him to be ‘hung up’ on her; obviously I’d need to come up with something else. Changing the subject I asked him if he’d seen Stavros. He told me that he was sitting in his car eating a pizza, which meant the man was settled in for the night outside Carol’s house and that Crocker still had his mind on the job. I told him to stick with it and sent him on his way upstairs.

****

The following morning I got word from Stavros that the stake out of Carol Austin’s house had paid off: she’d been picked up by a couple of ‘Papa’s’ henchmen and taken to his syndicate office near the docks. Stavros had followed them and Crocker and I met him there shortly after his call. Guessing that ‘Papa’ and his men would already know we were outside I told Stavros to cover the back just in case. Crocker and I headed toward the stairs. Then to twist the knife a little further, as soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs I told him to wait by the car, as I would a small child and headed up alone.

The old man was seated; a bottle of good wine and some glasses were on the table in front of him. He said he was glad to see me and offered me a drink which I accepted. I’d seen the label on the bottle: expensive stuff, so how could I refuse? I asked him where Carol was. He looked at me and reminded me that Robbie Austin had been an associate. I repeated my question. He began to tell me a ‘sob story’: that he’s surrounded by ‘young Turks’ - like the bodyguard who was currently standing across the room guarding a heavy-looking metal door - all just waiting for him to show any sign of weakness. I told ‘Papa’ to order his man to open the door or I would use his nose to break it down. He gave the order and the door was pulled open. Carol emerged escorted by two more of ‘Papa’s’ men. She said she was alright, so I sent her downstairs to wait with Crocker. ‘Papa’ asked why there needed to be bitterness between us. I reminded him that I’m a cop and he’s an old man: that he’s getting tired, his teeth are falling out and his nails are dull and in the city’s graveyards are more of his victims than I can count. Did he want me to forget that? There was no way I could. He told me he wanted Robbie Austin’s killer. I told him we had something in common because I wanted the same thing. Then I took a swig of the wine he’d poured for me and headed back downstairs.

Crocker and Carol sprang apart when they saw me approaching, but I’d already spotted them holding hands. I looked at her sternly and yelled that no one ever comes to a place like this willingly to which she yelled back that she was brought. I asked her why she hadn’t said anything, to which she asked what it was she was supposed to have said. While all this was going on I was watching Crocker out of the corner of my eye watching the interaction between us. She was reeling him in the same way she’d reeled me in all those years ago, and no doubt countless other men before, during, and after; she was very good at getting men to do what she wanted. Since she was HIS witness I asked Crocker if he would mind if I had a word with her and pulled her away from him, but made sure we were still within earshot. 

For a second she looked genuinely concerned and asked me not to let her start something between me and Crocker. But she was too late; I already had started something between the two of us and I was using her as the bait. I told her I had to make it look good, that I’d only yelled at her because I didn’t want Crocker to think I was on her side; because of the way things were between her and me, and how gossip spreads. I then informed her that one of my informants had seen Fred Toomey picking up a thirty-two calibre; a throwaway piece, and that if I could find that gun, I’d have him bang to rights.

Having made sure Crocker had overheard everything I took Carol back to the car where he was waiting and told him to take her home; that I’d catch a lift back to the precinct with Stavros. The look on his face was one of confusion mixed with not a little anger and jealousy; just what I wanted. I felt bad using him this way, but for my plan to succeed it had to be done.

****

The following morning I was in my office shaving when Saperstein came in to say he’d checked with Carol’s doctor, who it turned out had never prescribed sleeping pills for her because she’s allergic to barbiturates. We needed to find that gun! Frank who was also in the room made some comment about my recent mood, noting that I was shaving which was a good sign because he was beginning to think I was the victim instead of Robbie Austin. I told him I’d walked out of that scene a long time ago and I hadn’t looked back. I looked out into the squad room and noticed Crocker was talking to someone on the phone. He seemed to be spending a lot of time on the phone lately. I heard him say a few words then he slammed the receiver down and grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. Now it was time to make my move.

I entered the squad room and stood right in his path. I asked him if he was OK; he didn’t reply; he just glared at me. I asked him if he was still ‘leaning’ on the lady, he said he was still ‘leaning’, which was good I told him, because she might ‘drop something’. Then I informed him that I’d received a follow-up on the ME’s report, which should of course have been sent to HIM because as far as he was aware it was still his case. The ME, I told him, had informed me that Robbie Austin had drunk a couple of shots of ‘cordial’ just before he’d been killed, that a tiny speck of cork had been found in his stomach which meant that the killer was either already in the house, or Austin had let him in. So how come Carol hadn’t heard anything. 

I’ve always said I can read Crocker like a book and his reaction was exactly as I knew it would be. He informed me that Robbie Austin had ‘worked her over’ earlier that night; that she’d taken a sedative and gone to bed. I then informed him that there had been no sedative and why. It was then that Crocker came as close to losing it as I’ve ever seen. He’s always had a hot temper, something I blame on his mother’s Hispanic heritage, but during the years I’ve known him he’s worked very hard to control it, but now I could see he was struggling, and I felt bad for being the cause of that. Angrily he told me once and for all to either take him off the case or stay the hell away! Then he turned and walked out of the squad room. No prizes for guessing where he was going.

****

Later that day I was walking up the stairs to the Detective’s Division when Frank caught up with me. He was very concerned about something that had occurred earlier. Apparently Crocker had busted into ‘Papa’s’ syndicate office alone to ‘sort out’ Fred Toomey because the man had visited the home of his former boss and threatened Carol. Frank had then received a telephone call from ‘Papa’ preaching about his rights as a citizen. I decided it was time to confess to my friend what I’d been getting up to all this time and that Crocker wouldn't have come to any harm because I had him covered. Frank was furious and warned me that I shouldn’t have used my detective in the way I had, but it was too late now. The damage was done. I just hoped there wouldn’t be too many pieces to pick up afterwards.

****

The following morning I walked into the squad room and was told that Crocker had arrived a few minutes earlier. I called him into my office and closed the door behind us. He looked rough and I sarcastically asked him if he’d spent the night sleeping in the park. Of course it was naïve of me to think he wouldn't eventually discover the tail I’d put on him and when he'd found out they were fellow police officers and not 'Papa's' men he would have known I'd given the order to have him watched which would have angered him even further because he would realise I was still involved and still 'interfering'. I told him I’d done it for his protection and he’d laughed at that, said he had work to do and headed towards the door. I asked him what on earth he’d been thinking walking alone into ‘Papa’s’ headquarters. He told me he’d gone after Fred Toomey because HE'D gone after Carol, that he’d dealt with bigger fish than those in ‘Papa’s’ pond when he’d been living rough on the streets back when he was a kid in Jackson Heights, and he could take care of himself. Of that I had no doubt, but I stopped short of reminding him that he’d been a kid back then; that things were different now. I did however inform him that the reason Toomey was with ‘Papa’ was because he worked for the man and NOT for Robbie Austin.

I sighed and realised that I would have to tell him what had been going on. As gently as I could I broke the news to him that from the beginning I knew the case was going to be trouble; that I’d done what I’d done for a reason; I wanted Carol to believe I wasn’t on the case because I wanted to split her up from her partner. I saw the anger and hurt in his eyes when he finally realised I’d deliberately set him up. That I’d only pretended to give him the case; that all the work he’d done was for nothing because I'd always known who’d killed Robbie Austin. He dropped his head and I swear I could hear him grinding his teeth as he tried desperately to rein in his temper. After what seemed like an eternity he relaxed, looked up and nodded. He looked directly at me and calmly told me what HE'D worked out. 

****

It turned out Crocker like me had pretty much figured out from the start that either Carol or Toomey had killed Robbie Austin. He’d noticed the way Toomey looked at her, but decided the man was too weak to have committed the crime himself which left HER. Plus there was no gun, which meant suicide was out of the question. He mentioned the light switch again. How had he put it? “There’s a lady and she hears a shot in the dark. She runs downstairs into a room that needs a light even in the daytime and there’s a big fat switch on the staircase wall. Now when you’re scared you turn on the light before you enter a room; it’s a throwback to when you’re a kid, but this lady? She leaves it off.” He said he’d always known she’d used the light switch on the staircase wall on the night of the murder, but he had to prove it. He’d run through the events of the night of the murder with her acting out her part; him making the sound of the gun, her coming out of the bedroom, running down the stairs and like that, but each time he noticed she’d deliberately avoid the light switch on the stairs, so he decided to allow her to try and seduce him, which he knew would infuriate Fred Toomey. Last night he’d gone to her house and had discovered evidence that the man had been in her bedroom. He’d asked what Toomey had wanted. She claimed that the man wanted HER, that he’d always wanted HER, so she’d been giving him a little money and been ‘nice’ to him, where was the harm. Pretending to be angry Crocker had stormed out of her room and down the stairs. Carol had run after him and when she reached the bottom she automatically put her hand on the staircase wall switch in order to turn the lights on. I had to hand it to him: he’d done an amazing job, and I felt awful for lying to him. He was about to leave my office when Stavros came crashing through the door. Saperstein was watching Carol this morning, and had called in to report that she’d just left her house diving west.

****

I took Crocker in the car with me hoping we could at least make small talk, but he seemed to have closed down, at least where I was concerned, and we drove through town in silence. As we approached the wharf area Saperstein called to say Carol was at Pier 86. After we arrived I sent Crocker round the side while I headed toward where I could see Carol talking to Fred Toomey. He handed her a plastic bag which I could see contained a small gun. She handed him a plain brown envelope which I figured contained money. I noticed Toomey had a rolled up newspaper under his left arm. I heard Carol tell him that he had the same look on his face that he had when he couldn’t kill her husband. He pulled the newspaper out from under his arm, but she was quicker and pulled a gun from her coat pocket and pointed it at him. She’d figured out that ‘Papa’ had ordered Toomey to kill her. I called her name and when she turned to look at me, Toomey tried to make a run for it, but was stopped by Crocker. I took the plastic bag from her and asked Toomey if the gun inside was the murder weapon. He replied that it was and that her fingerprints were all over it. Crocker led Toomey away and handed him to Stavros. Then he turned and looked back at me.

Even in that moment, she still had to play her games. In order to wind Crocker up even further she leaned into me and told me to forget the gun: that she was coming into three million; that we could do SO much. I nodded and then put the cuffs on her and kissed her hand before handing her over to Saperstein. I stood back against the rail with the sun on my back. I looked across to where Crocker was standing. It had taken years to build up the relationship we had, and thanks to my obsession with Carol Austin I’d destroyed everything. He dropped his head, turned and walked away.

Back at the precinct, life returned to what passed for normal. I was in my office talking to Frank when Crocker came in and dropped his report off. I noticed on the cover he’d put ME down as ‘Detective Assigned’ and had drawn a line through the ‘Detective Assist’ box. He turned and headed out of the door.

“Bobby…” I began, but Frank grabbed my arm.

“Leave him be Theo,” he began. “He’ll be OK, just give him time.” 

I hope Frank is right.


End file.
